The Right Path: Standing up for The 3rd and 4th Raka`ah

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Standing up for The 3rd and 4th Raka`ah

Standing up for the Third, and then the Fourth,Raka`ah

The Solāh of the Prophet S.A.W
By Shaikh Muhammad Nasiruddin Al-Albāni

[The book was translated by Usama Ibn Suhaib Hassan Al-Britani; it would be worthwhile to revisit it and I invite you to provide inputs with regards to this piece of work by Albāni]

The Description of the Solāh
2.12. Standing up for the Third, and then the Fourth, Raka'ah

In the name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful;

All the praise and thanks is due to Allāh, the Lord of the al-'ālameen. There is none worthy of worship except Allāh, and that Muhammad, Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam is His Messenger.

Standing up for the Third, and then the Fourth, Raka`ah

Next, the Prophet (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) would get up for the third raka`ah with takbir [229], and he (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) ordered "the one who prayed badly" to do so: Then do that in every raka`ah, as before.

"When Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) stood from the sitting position, he would say takbir, and then stand up" [230]; and “Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) would raise his hands" [231] with this takbīr sometimes.

"When the Prophet (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) wanted to stand up for the fourth raka`ah, he (Sallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) would say: Allāh is the Greatest"[232], and he ordered "the one who prayed badly" likewise, as before, and "he (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) would raise his hands" [233] with this takbir sometimes.

" Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) would sit up straight on his left foot, at ease, until every bone returned to its proper place, then stand up, supporting himself on the ground; and he would clench his fists [234]: supporting himself with his hands when standing up." [235]

He would recite al-Fātihah in both these raka'ahs, and Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) ordered "the one who prayed badly" to do that. In Solāh Dzuhur, he would sometimes add a few ayat to this, as has been explained under "Recitation in Solāh Dzuhur ".

Qunūt in the Five Prayers because of a Calamity

"When the Prophet (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) wanted to supplicate against someone, or supplicate for someone, he would perform Qunut [236] in the last raka`ah, after ruku'; after having said: Allāh listens to the one who praises Him. [237] “Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) would supplicate loudly" [238], "raise his hands" [239], and "those behind him

The Prophet (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) would recite al-Fātihah in both these raka`at, and Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) ordered "the one who prayed badly" to do that. In Solah Dzuhur, he would sometimes add a few ayat to this, as has been explained under "Recitation in Solāh Dzuhur ".

"Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu 'alayhi wa sallam) was known to perform qunut in all five prayers" [241], although “Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) would only perform qunut in them when he (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) supplicated for a people or supplicated against a people" [242]. For example, Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) once said:

O Allāh! Rescue al-Walīd ibn al-Walīd, and Salamah ibn Hisham, and `Ayyash ibn Abi Rabe`ah. O Allāh! Harden Your penalty on (the tribe of) Mudar, and cause for it years (of famine) like the years of Yusuf. [O Allāh! Curse Lahyan, and Ru'l, and Dhakwan, and 'Usayyah, who disobeyed Allāh and His Messenger!] [243]

Then, " Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) would say: Allāh is the Greatest when he had finished Qunūt and prostrate." [244]

Qunūt in Solāh Witir [and Fajar]

“Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) used to perform Qunūt in the (odd) raka`ah of the Solāh Witir" [245] sometimes [246], and " Rasūlullāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wa sallam) would perform it before ruku'." [247]

He (Sallallāhu 'alaihi wa sallam) taught al-Hasan ibn `Ali (radhiallāhu`anhu) to say [after finishing his recitation in Witir]:

“Allāhummahdini fīman hadayt ,wa `āfini fīman `āfayt, wa tawallani fīman tawallayt, wa bārik li fīma a’tayt, wa qini sharra ma qadayt , fa innaka taqdi wa la yuqda `alayk, [wa] innahu lāyadhillu man wālayt, wa lā ya`izzu man `ādayt, tabārakta Rabbana wa ta `ālayt, la manja minka illa ilayk”

(O Allāh! Guide me among those whom You have guided; and pardon me among those who You have pardoned; and turn on me in friendship among those on whom You have turned in friendship; and bless me in what You have bestowed; and save me from the evil of what You have decreed; [for] indeed You decree, and none can influence You; [and] he is not humiliated whom You have befriended; [nor is he honoured who is Your enemy.] Blessed are You, O Lord, and Exalted. [There is no place of safety from You except towards You.]) [248]

In another narration by Imām Baihaqi the Du`ā Al-Qunūt include with an addition after La manja minka illa ilayk”:

“Falakalhamdu`alamaqadayt, (You are most blessed and upon you all the praise you had bestowed,) Astaghfirukawātubuilaik. (I seek forgiveness from Allāh and I repent to Him.) Wa sallallāhu `ala Muhammadin Nabiyilummi wa`ala ālihi wasahbihi wa sallam” And O Allāh! Send prayers on Muhammad the Unlettered Prophet and on the family and his companions)

Wallāhu`alam.

Footnotes

229 Bukhari and Muslim
230 Abu Ya’la in his Musnad (284/2) with a good isnād. It is given in Silsilah al-Ahādith as-Sahīhah (604).
231Bukhari and Abu Dawud
232ibid.
233 Abu `Awanah; Nasā`ie with a sahih sanād.
234 literally, "as one who kneads dough."
235 Harbi in Gharib al-Hadith; its meaning is found in Bukhari and Abu Dawud. As for the hadith, he forbade that a man should support himself with his hand when getting up during prayer", it is munkar and not authentic, as I have explained in Silsilah al-Ahādith ad-Da`iefah (967).
236 Qunūt: carries several meanings, e.g. humility, devotion. What is meant here is the special supplication while standing during Solāh.
237 Bukhari; Ahmad.
238 ibid.
239 Ahmad; Tabarāni with a sahih sanad. To raise the hands in qunut is the mazhab of Ahmad and also Ishaq bin Rahawaih, cf. Marwazi’s Masā`il (p. 23). As for wiping the face with the hands, it is not reported in this position, and is thus an innovation; as for outside of solāt, it is not authentically-reported: all that has been transmitted in this regard is either weak or very weak, as I have shown in Da`ief Abi Dawud (262); Silsilah al-Ahādith as-Sahihah (597). This is why `Izz bin `Abd as-Salām said in one of his fatwas, "Only an ignorant person does it." See Appendix 8.
240 Abu Dawud and Siraj; Hakim declared it sahih, and Dhahabi and others agreed.
241 Abu Dawud, Siraj; Daraqutni with two hasan sanads.
242 Ibn Khuzaimah in his Sahih (1/78/2); Khatib in Kitab al-Qunūt with a sahih sanad.
243 Bukhari; Ahmad; the addition is in Muslim.
244 Nasā`ie, Ahmad, Siraj (109/1); Abu Ya’la in his Musnad with a good sanād.
245 Ibn Nasr; Daraqutni with a sahih sanad.
246 We have said, "... sometimes" because the Companions who narrated the Witir prayer did not mention the qunut in it, whereas had the Prophet (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) done so always, they would have all mentioned it. However, Ubayy ibn Ka`ab alone narrated the qunūt in Witir, so this shows that he used to do it sometimes. Hence, this is evidence that qunūt in Witir is not obligatory (wajib), and this is the opinion of the majority of scholars. For this reason, the researching Hanafi scholar, Ibn al-Humam, recognised in Fath al-Qadir (1/306,359,360) that the view of it being obligatory is feeble and not substantiated by evidence. This shows his fairness and lack of party-spirit, for this view which he has supported is contrary to his mazhab!
247 Ibn Abi Shaibah (12/41/1), Abu Dawud, Nasā`ie in Sunan al-Kubra (218/1-2), Ahmad, Tabarāni, Baihaqi; Ibn ‘Asakir (4/244/2) narrated this, along with the supplication after it, with a sahih sanād. Ibn Mandah narrated the supplication only in Tawhid (70/2) with a different, hasan sanād. Its takhrij is also given in Irwa' (426).
248 Abu Dawud (1425), Al-Tirmidzi (464), and Al-Nasa`ie (1746) from Al-Hasan Ibn `Ali (may Allāh be pleased with him); Ibn Khuzaimah (1/119/2) and also Ibn Abi Shaibah etc., as for the last hadith.

*NB: Nasā`ie adds at the end of the qunut: Wa Sall-Allāhu `ala-n-Nabiyy al-Ummiyy ("may Allāh send prayers on the Unlettered Prophet"), related with a weak isnād; among those who declared it da`ief are Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalani and Zurqani. Therefore, we have not included it in our system of combining acceptable narrations. ‘Izz bin ‘Abd as-Salām said in al-Fatawa (66/1, 1962), "To send prayers on the Messenger of Allāh (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) in qunut is not authentic, nor is it fitting to add to the Messenger of Allāh (Sallallāhu`alayhi wasallam) prayer in any way." This view of his shows that he did not widen the argument by including the idea of bid‘ah hasanah ("good" innovation), as some of the later scholars are prone to doing!

However, it is proved in the hadith about Ubayy bin Ka`ab leading the people during the Ramadhān night prayers that he used to send prayers on the Prophet (Sallallāhu `alayhi wasallam) at the end of the qunut, and that was during the reign of `Umar Al-Khattab (radiyallāhu `anhu) - transmitted by Ibn Khuzaimah in his Sahih (1097). Similarly is proved from Abu Halimah Mu‘adz al-Ansari, who also used to lead them during ‘Umar's rule - transmitted by Isma `il al-Qadi (no. 107) and others, so this addition is justified by the practice of the Salaf, and it is thus not fitting to categorically state that this addition is an innovation. Allāh knows best.

[Via The Qur`ān and Sunnah Society]